'We sleep cold and hungry': Video of Syrian girl's heartbreaking account goes viral

A heart-wrenching video of a Syrian girl talking about the suffering she and her family are enduring in the bitter winter cold has gone viral in recent days.

The girl, whose name and age could not be verified, spoke as another girl sat next to her was unable to hold back tears.

The short video was shared on the Twitter page of an NGO called The Emergency Response Team, who asked for donations to help 500 families.

The location could also not be verified but is likely in northern Syria, where several charities are operating to help millions of Syrians who have been displaced since war broke out in the country in 2011.

#ثريد
“ كل الأولاد يلي عندهم أب عم ينامو دفيانين
بتصدق يا عمو نحن كل يوم عمننام بردانين وجوعانين“ 💔
بهدول الكلمات مع غصة مؤلمة و دموع بردانة و أصابيع وجعها البرد بتحكيلنا هي الطفلة معاناتهم و كيف عايشين تحت شادر الخيمة
بهمتكن جميعاً منكمل حملتنا لجمع مواد التدفئة ل500 عائلة pic.twitter.com/y26y4uUYym

— فريق الاستجابة الطارئة (@responseteam0) December 7, 2022

"Can you believe, sir, that every night we go to bed cold and hungry. We don’t have wood [for heating]. My father is a martyr, before he died we always had wood, we were always warm when he was alive," she says.

"But now," she says before a brief pause, "everything is ruined. Baba [dad] is somewhere, and we are somewhere else."

She asks the man interviewing her why they suffer the cold winter nights when other children are able to sleep warm and well-fed.

"Has your child slept once, just once, without food? Cold? Of course not. What fault do we have? All children who have fathers are sleeping in warmth."

Her last words in the video are: "I wish Baba could take us with him," as the girl next to her sits silently with tears rolling down her face.

Battered by nearly 12 years of conflict, chronic fuel shortages in the war-torn country have intensified in recent weeks, leaving many Syrians without power for up to 22 hours a day and unable to heat their homes.

Internally displaced Syrians living in refugee camps suffer much worse conditions, with inadequate access to heating, sanitation, potable water and basic healthcare. Cholera has also become widespread in camps housing the displaced.

Ninety percent of Syrians now live below the poverty line and 12.4 million people are food insecure, according to the United Nations.